The National Organisation Of Nurse Practitioner Faculties Nonpf Competency Framework

As well as demonstrating Master's-level education, nurses wanting to be registered as an 'advanced nurse practitioner' with the NMC will have to demonstrate that they have met the competencies adapted by the RCN (2005) (although these may be subjected to minor changes before use by the NMC). These domains and competencies are based on the work of the NONPF in America, who developed the original competencies in 1995, and have been revised a number of times since then. The RCN based their domains on the 2001 version. The competencies are a framework for nurse practitioners to base their practice on. Aspiring nurse practitioners will need to demonstrate competence in these via a portfolio of learning.

THE FUTURE REGISTRATION OF ANPS

Ultimately, there will be a specifically designed advanced nurse practitioner Master's degree course, with a curriculum that is set by the NMC in the same way as is done with pre-registration courses, and which all future advanced nurse practitioners will have to attain prior to registration. The course content would most likely follow that of the existing nurse practitioner programmes from North America. Like other nursing programmes, the course would be 50 per cent clinical and 50 per cent theoretical, and it might include the following modules; physical assessment, research, advanced clinical practice, health promotion/education, and leadership and would be based on the acquisition of competency in the RCN domains of practice (see Box Four). It could also be postulated that independent extended and supplementary nurse prescribing would also be linked to this qualification; however, this might not be an 'essential' requirement, as some advanced practice nurses may not in their roles need to prescribe. The courses would be generic, leading to advanced nurse practitioner (adult), advanced nurse practitioner (child), etc. There would either be specialist 'optional' modules in the Master's programme, such as HIV or Sexual Health, or further certification on completion of the ANP course in a specialist field would be required. For example, one might be an